For the week of June 27 - July 3, 2001

Nine pups enter training to become Canine Companions

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By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer

Nine adorable three-week-old puppies are already working hard to earn their keep. They were born to Carole, a yellow Lab, who is "very proud," said her owner, Annie Williams, of Ketchum. The puppies will be trained to be Canine Companions for disabled persons.

These puppies will be trained to become Canine Companions for disabled persons. Express photo by Dana DuGan

These are no ordinary cuddly puppies who can sleep all day. They have work to do. All nine will be watched carefully and trained to walk on different surfaces, to go up ramps and to interact with humans. They will be monitored closely for personality traits.

Williams, who breeds and trains puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, a national organization in Santa Rosa, Calif., marked each puppy with different colored paint according to birth order. She weighs the puppies regularly, and gives them socialization exercises.

In the fourth week, Williams works them with obstacles, toys and textures. Then she will wean the pups and drive all nine to Santa Rosa to be registered with Canine Companions.

Out of this litter, three will come back to Idaho with her. One will be trained by a "puppy raiser," Wood River Valley lawyer Erin O’Toole. The other two will be raised by two teenaged girls in Fairfield for their 4-H project.

The puppies are not returned to Santa Rosa again until they are a year old, and completely trained. At that time they will go through an advanced training program before being given to a disabled person, free of charge, who is on the Canine Companions for Independence waiting list. The waiting list is over three years long.

 

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